Chute



April 16, 1968 J. J. MARTIN CHUTE Filed June 13, 1966 1' Jr l DEV/6E m p u n INVENTOR M H h fifl Mane/ fink,

ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofifice dfimjiid l atented Apr. M3, 196% 3,373,124 CHUTE Johannes Josef Martin, Montsalvatstrasse l4, Munich 23, Germany Filed June 13, 1966, Ser. No. 557,329 Claims priority, application Germany, June 15, 1965,

7 Claims. (Cl. l3-2 ABSTRACT GF THE DISCLOSURE In a chute, particularly for feeding material into an incinerator, a pair of mutually inclined downwardly converging walls defining a funnel having a top opening through which material is introduced and a bottom opening through which the material passes into a lower portion of the chute, one of the walls extending substantially in one plane downwardly beyond the bottom opening and being throughout inclined wit-h reference to a vertical at a steeper angle than the other wall so that material introduced through the top opening and impacting on the one wall will slide along the same toward the bottom opening at a greater speed than the speed at which material impacting on the other wall slides along the latter, whereby jamming of the bottom opening upon entry of the material from both of the walls thereinto is prevented.

The present invention relates to a chute. More specifically, the invention relates to a chute for feeding materials. Still more specifically, the invention relates to a chute which finds particular utility in feeding material to refuse-processing devices and refuse incinerators.

In refuse-processing devices such as incinerators it is known to provide a chute which leads to the inlet of the processing device involved. Such chutes have a funnelshaped upper portion and the refuse is introduced into this portion in large quantities, for example by being dropped from a crane or similar transport device. If the material which is introduced in this manner into the funnel-shaped upper portion of the chute consists of relatively small particles, the prior-art devices operate satisfactorily. If, however, a larger fraction is included in this material, then there exists the danger that the material will jam in the outlet of the funnel-shaped upper portion. This is particularly true if quantities of material are introduced which somewhat exceed the through-put capacity of this outlet opening, i.e., the point where the upper funnelshaped portion communicates with the remainder of the chute. As a result it is in such prior-art constructions frequently necessary to interrupt processing and to clear the jammed material out of the funnel-shaped upper portion by hand. Not only is this uneconomical from the point of view of having to interrupt the processing operation, but it is expensive also because manual labor is required.

A further disadvantage of the prior-art constructions known to me at this time is the fact that the introduction of refuse into the funnel-shaped upper portion of the chute liberates rather considerable quantities of dust and small particulate material, and that it has heretofore been difiicult if not impossible to control this dust.

It is thus a general object of the present invention to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior 'art.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a chute of the type discussed in which jamming of material upon introduction thereof into the funnel-shaped portion of the chute is significantly reduced or even entirely eliminated.

An additional object of the present invention is to pro vide a chute of the type mentioned above in which liberated quantities of dust can be quickly and readily withdrawn.

A concomitant object of the present invention is to provide a chute such as set forth above, which is simple and economical to manufacture, and which is little more complicated than the existing prior-art chutes while providing considerably better performance.

In accordance with one feature of my invention 1 provide in a chute, particularly a chute of the type used for feeding material into an incinerator, a pair of mutually inclined walls. These walls diverge downwardly and thus define a funnel which has a top opening through which the material is introduced and a bottom opening through which the material passes into a lower portion of the chute. In accordance with the invention one of these walls extends substantially in one plane downwardly beyond the bottom opening and is throughout inclined with reference to a vertical at an angle which is steeper than the angle at which the other wall is inclined to the same vertical. This achieves that material which is introduced through the top opening and impacts on the one wall will slide along the same toward the bottom opening at a speed which is greater than the speed at which material impacting on the other wall slides along the latter.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in. particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation of a chute in accordance with the prior art; and

FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of PKG. l, but on a larger scale, and showing a structure in accordance with the present invention.

Discussing now the drawing in detail, and firstly the prior-art embodiment shown in FIG. 1 thereof, it will be noted that the chute 1 carries at its upper end a funnelshaped portion 2 into which material is introduced in the direction of the arrows 3, 4. This material falls freely and impacts on the mutually inclined walls 5, 6 which define the funnel. The quantities 3, 4' of material which have impacted on the walls 5, 6 are so deflected that in the range 7, that is in the region of the lower opening of the funnel, they impact one another at considerable speed. Thus, their kinetic energy is destroyed at this point and jamming occurs since neither portions 3', d has enough energy left to thrust the other downwardly through the outlet. No material at all, or at any rate only very little material, is then able to pass through the chute 7 into the incinerator or other receptacle l6 and it is necessary to shut down the device and to free the clogged lower outlet opening of the funnel Z by hand.

These disadvantages are overcome with the present invention as illustrated by way of example in FIG. 2. The chute itself is again designated with reference numeral 1 and the funnel-shaped upper portion of the chute is designated with reference numeral ll. The walls 5, 6 are inclined in approximately the same manner as is shown in FlG. 1. However, a movable Wall or wall section 8 is arranged within the funnel l1 overlying the wall This movable wall 8 is pivoted to the wall 6 at a pivot point 35 so as to he swiu able about this pivot point between a plurality of alternate positions of which one is shown in dashe lines and identified with reference numeral 8. It is the purpose of the movable wall 3 to be so adjusted that material which impinges thereon can slide only slowly along this wall 8 and into the region of the bottom opening 7. In other words, whereas material impacting the wall 5 will slide quickly therealong because of its steep angle, the kinetic energy of articles or materials impinging on the wall 8 is substantially destroyed by the impact and they can slide off the Wall 8 only at a rate of speed which is considerably slower than in the case of wall 5.

This, as has just been pointed out above, is not true of materials which impinge on the wall 5 since such materials will slide along the wall 5 through the region of the bottom opening 7 into the chute 1 at a speed which is relatively great as compared with the speed at which material slides off the wall 8. Thus, materials which slide along the wall 5 will fill the furnace or similar container 1t? satisfactorily while the materials sliding off the plate 8 will be added to these other materials at a lesser rate of flow. The result is that no more jam-ups occur in the region of the area 7 and, furthermore, that objects which gradually move downwardly in the funnel through the outlet opening 7 as other material filling the chute 1 settles or is removed therefrom by the action of processing device 16, will by themselves and naturally assume such positions that they will be able to pass through the opening '7 and enter into the inlet of the chute 1, rather than becoming lodged in the opening '7.

Nominally, the holding capacity of a funnel such as shown in FIG. 2 may be the same as that of prior art devices. In fact, its over-all dimensions need not exceed those of the prior art. Nevertheless, compared to the prior art, the device in accordance with the present invention can accept greater quantities of material within a given period of time because of the more rapid passage of the material from the funnel and into the chute. Furthermore, even if an excessively large quantity of material is introduced into the funnel of the novel device at one time, this does not adversely influence the operation of the device.

As shown in FIG. 2 the angle of inclination of the wall 8 with respect to a vertical is preferably adjustable; however, this is by no means an indispensible prerequisite. If adjustability is in fact desired, then it is advantageous to secure an upper edge portion of the wall 8 pivotally to an upper edge portion of the wall 6 by means of a hinge or similar device so as to be swingable or pivotable thereabout, as seen in FIG. 2. Preferably, the change to the position 8 (and others) should be possible during operation of the device. Means for carrying out such movement, be they manual, mechanical or electrical, are so well known that a specific description thereof is not believed to be necessary.

To enhance the effectiveness of the novel device, and to be able to compensate for the different characteristics of various materials, a vibrator may be provided for vibrating the wall 8, such as the one schematically shown at 1'7. Advantageously, the vibrator will be directly mounted on the wall 8 although other solutions are of course possible.

Movement of the wall 8 in the sense tending to engage the wall 6 is preferably so limited that a free space remains therebetween. Since in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 the wall 8 is pivoted to wall 6 at the point 15, the two walls define with one another an angle so that between them there exists a free space which is downwardly open. To prevent backing-up of material into this space, a screen or grating 13 may be provided which closes off this space from the remainder of the device. Dust, which develops in considerable quantities during operation of the device can, however, pass through the screen or grating into the free space 17, and it is advantageous to provide one of the many well-known suction devices and to so arrange the same that it communicates with the space 1'7, for instance by means of a tube 12, so that dust rising into the space 17 can be evacuated therefrom.

Finally, it may be desirable to be able to close off the inlet opening 10 of the chute 1 or the outlet opening 7 of the funnel 2, and to this end a gate or dam-per member 14 can be provided which may be privotally secured to a wall of the chute 1. Such a member 14 may either normally extend across the respective opening to be deflected out of the way by the pressure of downwardly moving material, or it may be made to be selectively movable. The means for carrying out the latter operation are again so well known that it is not believed necessary to describe them.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of chutes differing from the types describe above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a chute, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a chute, particularly for feeding material into an incinerator, a pair of mutually inclined downwardly converging walls defining a funnel having a top opening through which material is introduced and a bottom opening through which the material passes into a lower portion of said chute, one of said walls extending substantially in one plane downwardly beyond said bottom opening and being throughout inclined with reference to a vertical at a. steeper angle than the other wall so that material introduced through said top opening and impacting on said one wall will slide along the same toward said bottom opening at a greater speed than the speed at which material impacting on said other wall slides along the latter, whereby jamming of said bottom opening upon entry of the material from both of said walls thereinto is prevented; and further comprising vibrating means operatively connected with said other wall for vibrating the same so as to facilitate sliding of material along the same.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said other wall is tiltable with respect to said one wall.

3. A structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said other wall is tiltable with respect to said one wall; and further comprising an additional wall located outside said other wall as seen with reference to the interior of said funnel, and defining with said vertical an angle which is substantially the same as the one defined therewith by said one wall.

4. A structure as defined in claim 3, wherein all of said walls have respective upper edge portions adjacent said top opening of said funnel, the upper edge portion of said other wall being tiltably secured to the upper edge portion of said additional wall.

5. A structure as defined in claim 3, wherein all of said walls have respective upper edge portions adjacent said top opening of said funnel, the upper edge portion of said other wall being tiltably secured to the upper edge portion of said additional wall; and means for limiting movement of said other wall in a direction toward said one wall so that a free space remains between said Walls downwardly of the respective upper edge portions thereof.

e. A structure as defined in claim 5; and further comprising screen means arranged in the region of the lower end portion of said other Wall for preventing intrusion of material into said free space while permitting drifting of References Cited dust thereinto- UNITED STATES PATENTS 7. A structure as defined in claim 5; and further com- 1 165 331 12/1915 Gray prising screen means arranged in the region of the lower 1:842:919 1/1932 Simmons 214 17 end portion of said other wall for preventing intrusion of 5 1 324 930 12 1919 s h fi 3Q2 55 material into said free space while permitting drifting of FOREIGN PATENTS dust thereinto; and further comprising suction means communicating with said free space for withdrawing dust 12560 6/1902 Great Bntam particles therefrom. 1O ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Primary Examiner. 

